Recycling E Waste And Its Effects On The United States

This paper will discuss what e-waste is, what is happening to the e-waste and why it is a problem. The paper will then discuss what can be done to improve the situation.

Electronics Recycling. Electronic recycling is one consideration the company can do better with. Recycling in general lowers greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing items for the first time. Recycling electronics conserves natural resources making cleaner air and water. The valuable resources computers and electronic components carry are metals, plastics, and glass. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling a million laptops would give back enough energy for 3500 American homes’ electricity. A million cell phones would could yield 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium. Instead of throwing out the old computers and blackberry’s, the company could simply upgrade the hardware or software and then recycle the parts necessary.

E-waste or electronic waste is the number 1 fastest growing trash in the united states since 2004. E-waste is made up of lead, mercury, , and caldium. All of these Acids are deadly to the human body. Alex lin and many other teen activists work with these acids every day. Also, These activists are trying to stop these deadly acid from seeking into the ground and killing natural resources. These acids can also get into the water systems and harm people. When you get a new electronic you would most likely through it out in the TRASH, but you should recycle old electronics. According to the Electronic recycling 101 article, 3 million tons of electronic are trough out and only 13.6 of them are recycled. This shows that many people are unaware of

As used electronics is becoming a waster hazard worldwide local governments such as where I live include programs at local waste stations purely for electronics. This encourages local residents to freely drop off their electronic waste, like TV’s and computers and mobile phones to these locations where the waste is sorted and than shipped to facilities that can process this waste appropriately which also includes recycling as much material as possible. This has a

It has become the new “norm” with people to replace their electronics because their devices become out of date or they feel like they have to have the latest thing. In the article “Our E-Waste Problem Is Ridiculous, And Gadget Makers Aren’t Helping,” by Christina Bonnington, the author discusses how people buy new electronics every year when they come out and the old ones get abandoned. She also talks about how many people aren’t properly recycling their old devices and how some electronics can be impossible to recycle the right way. She also talks

Today, with over 7 billion people on Earth, the demand for technology is rising rapidly. As companies work hard to meet demands and mass produce technology for both society and businesses, they release harmful chemicals and gasses which pollute the environment and result in climate changes (Ramey). And not only does the overproduction of technology pollute the air, but it also harms the ground that we stand on. Technotrash, or any broken or unwanted electronic device, is currently the most rapidly-growing type of waste (Green) and according to GreenDisk, a company dedicated towards safely recycling technotrash, over 80% of technotrash is not being recycled. While technotrash represents only 2% of America’s trash in landfills, it equals 70% (emphasis) of overall toxic waste (“11 Facts”) because the toxins in technology can leak into the ground (Anthony). For example, lead from cell phone circuit boards can cause

There are so many different ways our world can recycle ,The goal is to reduce the amount of waste ,

Alex Lin was one teen activist who saw a problem in e-waste.He was reading an article from the wall street journal, and he saw that there was an e-waste tsunami to come. In the article, it said that Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Even worse, just 18 percent of discarded televisions and computer products were collected for recycling.To stop this he created team W.I.N, {Westerly Innovations Network}.He worked with Metech International to hold a recycling program for e-waste and they collected 21,000 pounds of E-Waste.Then his team saw that it was easier to refurbish the electronics than to recycle them.He worked with his school district to put refurbishing

Going green its great for the Country and it should be by choice not by law.Americans already recycle at high rate, we do not need a law pushing us beyond what we are already doing.

Every year people in the U.S create about 660 million pounds of tech trash. Tech trash can pollute the environment because electronics can have dangerous chemicals like lead and the chemicals could leak into a river and pollute the water. How do we stop this? One way is to use electronics as long as you can. Also you can donate electronics to a charity or a neighbor. Another way is to look for a certified e-waste to recycle your electronics.

Developing countries have made harmful contributions to our environment. Each year, 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed. The largest e-waste

BAN found that 50 to 80 percent of e-waste collected in the western U.S. for recycling is actually exported to countries like China, India, and Pakistan. The investigative team witnessed the toxic dumping of lead-laden cathode ray tubes in open fields and rivers not far from populated areas, the open burning of plastics and wires, and exposure to toxic solders from circuit boards. They also documented hundreds of thousands of migrant workers (men, women and children), who were forced to break apart and process obsolete computers, completely unaware of the health and

The hazardous side effects of E-Waste have the most impact on labor workers in other countries. Where health regulations are not enforced, most of the labor workers are frail children with no protection from the harmful chemicals that use their bare hands to take apart the electronics in order to salvage valuable and reusable electronic parts. In Guiyu, China where child labor is the norm, approximately 82% of

United States and China are the world leaders in producing electronic waste with amount of over 5 million tons each year (4). China has banned e-waste imports but still remains one of the main e-waste dumping ground for developed countries(4). Framework for E-waste management policies in developed countries is based on “Extended Producer Responsibility” or “Product Take Back” (2).

Electronic-waste (e-waste) has emerged as a critical global environmental health issue in both developed and developing nations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refers to e-waste as "electronic products that are discarded by consumers." More specifically, e-waste is a generic term that encompasses various forms of electrical and electronic equipment that may be old, might have reached end-of-life and most importantly cease to be of any value to their present owners. These electronics include computers, printers, television sets, mobile phones, video game consoles, and VCR and DVD players, among other products. As the demand for newer, more effective and efficient technology increases, the life span of